Ergonomic paint brush

ABSTRACT

An ergonomic paintbrush where the handle of the paintbrush is offset from the brush head and the bristles. In one embodiment, the brush handle has a curved shape to better fit a person&#39;s hand and to be perpendicular to the surface being painted without any significant angling of the wrist. The offset handle results in less hand fatigue for the painter, which permits the painter to paint a larger surface in a day. The advantage of the bristles being perpendicular to the surface being painted is a more uniform application of paint and less paint dripping from the brush. This allows for a faster application of the paint with less paint wasted.

[0001] This invention relates to a ergonomic paintbrush. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a handle that is shaped so thatthe paintbrush handle is offset from the center of the brush head, whichallows it to be used with decreased hand and wrist fatigue.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Prior art paintbrushes have handles where are coaxial andcoplanar with the brush head, which contains the bristles. That is, thehandle and the brush head in their major dimensions are in susbtantialythe same plane. In essence, the handle extends rearward from the centerof the brush head without any deviation from the coaxial and coplanarorientation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The handle of the present paintbrush is offset from the center ofthe brush head, so as to better fit into a person's hand. The handle ofthe paintbrush is preferably substantially coplanar with the brush headand the bristles, but it is not coaxial. In one embodiment, the brushhandle has a curved shape to better fit a person's hand and to beperpendicular to the surface being painted without any significantangling of the wrist. The offset handle results in less hand fatigue forthe painter, which permits the painter to paint a larger surface in aday. The advantage of the bristles being perpendicular to the surfacebeing painted is a more uniform application of paint and less paintdripping from the brush. This allows for a faster application of thepaint with less paint wasted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004]FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a prior art paintbrush.

[0005]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the presentergonomic paintbrush.

[0006]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of another embodiment of the presentergonomic paint brush.

[0007]FIG. 4 is a view of the prior art paintbrush gripped in a handduring use.

[0008]FIG. 5 is a view of an embodiment of the present ergonomicpaintbrush gripped in a hand during use.

[0009]FIG. 6 is a view of the embodiment of the present ergonomicpaintbrush illustrated in FIG. 3 gripped in a hand during use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The present ergonomic paintbrush will be described in more detailwith reference to the drawings. This description is of a preferredembodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, but which can be modified, e.g.,as shown in FIG. 3, yet be within the ambit of the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 1 shows a prior art paintbrush. Handle 10 is coaxial andcoplanar with brush head 14 and bristles 12. That is, a plane throughthe side of the brush is substantially through brush head 14, bristle 12and handle 10. Handle 10 also is on the same axis as brush head 14 andbristles 12. That is, a line bisecting bristles 12 and brush head 14would also bisect handle 10. Optional aperture 16 is for hanging thebrush on a hook for storage.

[0012] Brush head 24 and bristles 23 may collectively be referred to asthe brush section.

[0013] In contrast, the ergonomic paintbrushes of FIGS. 2 and 3 havehandle 20, brush head 24 and bristles 22 in a substantially coplanarorientation, but handle 20 is not coaxial with brush head 24 andbristles 22. That is, handle 20 is offset from the center of brush head24. By “offset,” we mean that the central axis of handle 20 is notaligned with the central axis of the brush head 24. Specifically, handle20 has an upper portion 40 adjacent to brush head 20, and a lowerportion 41. Upper portion 40 is offset from brush head 24.

[0014] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, handle 20 has a hyperbolic arc tofit a person's hand, so that lower portion 41 is not offset, while firstend 40 is offset. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, side surface 26 of brushhead 24 is shown as being in an alignment with the outer curved handlesurface 28. Referring to the embodiment of FIG. 2, the hyperbolic arccan be of varying shapes. Preferably it will be of a shape to provide amore perpendicular contact of the bristles with the surface beingpainted. Desirably, optional aperture 26 is coaxial with brush head 24so that the brush will hang vertically from a peg holder.

[0015] In the embodiment of FIG. 3, both upper portion 40 and lowerportion 41 are offset from the center line of brush head 24.

[0016]FIG. 4 illustrates the holding of the prior art paintbrush of FIG.1 during use. Here there ate shown four fingers of a hand 30 contactingbrush head 14 and handle 10 with the thumb (not shown) contacting theopposite side of handle 10. Wrist 32 is angled to get a better alignmentwith the surface being painted. However, even with wrist 32 beingangled, brush head 14 will contact the surface at an angle.

[0017] In contrast, as shown in FIG. 5, the paintbrush of FIG. 2 isshown with a more linear contact with the surface that is being painted,wrist 32 of hand 30 is not angled and thumb 34 is gripping part of theside and part of the tear surface of the handle. Handle 20 fits betweenthe thumb and the adjacent finger and follows the curvature of the hand.

[0018] There is a better alignment with the wall with the presentergonomic brush than with the prior art brushes because the user's handand wrist are in a more perpendicular orientation to the surface beingpainted. Further, the user's hand and wrist are in a more axialalignment with the brush bristles. This alll results in ease in paintingwith less paint wastage and less hand fatigue.

[0019] The present ergonomic paintbrush can be constructed using thematerials used for prior art paintbrushes. The bristles can be ofnatural or synthetic fibers; the handle can be constructed of wood orplastic. The bristles will be attached to the brush head in any commonlyused manner. Brush head 24 will typically be made of metal, though othermaterials, such as plastic, may be used. The amount of offest of thehandle to the brushhead is not critical. Similarly, as noted above, ifthe offset handles is curved, the degree of arc in the curve of thehandle may vary. The degree of arc shown in the drawings is solely forillustrative purposes.

[0020] It will be understood that variations can be made from theforegoing description without departing from the spirit of the inventionas claimed below.

1. A paintbrush comprising a brush section and a handle, the handlebeing offset from the brush section.
 2. The paintbrush of claim 1,wherein the handle is coplanar with the brush section.
 3. The paintbrushof claim 2, wherein the handle has a curved shape.
 4. The paintbrush ofclaim 3, wherein the curved shape is a hyperbolic shape.
 5. A paintbrushcomprising a brush section and a handle, the brush section comprising abrush head and bristles, the handle having a first end and a second end,the first end being adjacent to the brush head, the first end of thehandle being offset from the brush head.
 6. The paintbrush of claim 5,wherein the handle is coplanar with the brush section.
 7. The paintbrushof claim 6, wherein the handle has a curved shape.
 8. The paintbrush ofclaim 7, wherein the curved shape is a hyperbolic shape.